Wall protector and bumper

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a wall protector having a bumper. The preferred wall protector includes a front surface and a rear surface constructed of a non-abrasive flexible material sealed together along edges. The front surface includes a pocket constructed of an air impermeable material for the reception of a pressurized gas, such that when the pocket is full of a pressurized gas the pocket forms a bumper with the tendency to absorb kinetic energy when impacted upon by an outside body. The wall protector having the bumper also includes an upper portion material extending upwardly from the bumper to cover a first portion of the wall above the bumper and a lower portion material extending downwardly from the bumper to cover a second portion of the wall below the bumper, and a mounting means positioned along a top edge of the upper portion material for attaching the wall protector to a wall.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates, in general, to a wall protector,and more particularly, to a bumper and a wall protector having a bumperwhich can be mounted to a wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] City dwellers are familiar with garages having limited space.Often, a one-car city garage provides enough room to park one car withlittle more than 18 inches of space on either side of the car foringress and egress of the car passengers. Similarly, a two-car citygarage, typically seventeen and one-half feet in width, provides limitedspace. As a result, interior garage walls are often damaged by car doorsas car passengers attempt to get in and out of the parked car. Similarproblems may also occur in industrial settings, hotel settings, or evenin large garages where objects are being moved by hand or by a wheeledcart or a hand truck. Furthermore, a child may be injured when he or sheinadvertently contacts the wall with a force such as a force caused by aswinging car door. In addition, car passengers getting in and out of theparked car may brush up against the interior garage walls causing dirtand grime to be transferred from the wall onto their clothing.

[0003] Various types of wall protectors have been employed in the pastwith various degrees of success. These include the use of woodenhandrails, positioned to afford some degree of protection to the walls.Wooden handrails do not, however, protect persons from coming in contactwith dirt and grime on the wall. Nor do they prevent injury topassengers inadvertently contacting the wall with a force.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,564 to Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,773 toEllington, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,048 to Shriener all disclosehandrails which could be used to protect walls in small areas or in hightraffic areas. However, all show relatively complex structural designswhich would results in high manufacturing costs. Furthermore, thedevices of Brown and Ellington must be positioned far enough from a wallto allow access to fastening screws and bolts located between the railand the wall, and at a height where persons and objects are most likelyto contact the handrail. Therefore the installation of the devices ofBrown and Ellington would not be appropriate in areas where space islimited. In addition, the devices disclosed in Brown, Ellington, andShriener are not adapted to be energy absorbing and therefore offer noprotection against injury when persons inadvertently contact thehandrails with a force.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,786 to Kamm discloses a metallic bumperhaving a hollow interior to hold a light source for illuminating thearea of the bumper. Kamm, however, does not protect persons from comingin contact with dirt and grime on the wall having the bumper. Nor doesKamm prevent injury to passengers inadvertently contacting the wall witha force.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention provides a new wall protector having abumper which can be mounted substantially proximate to the wall.

[0007] It is therefore a principal object of the present invention toprovide a wall-mounted wall protector having a bumper which can bemounted directly to a wall

[0008] It is another object of the present invention to provide a wallprotector having a bumper for preventing wall damage.

[0009] It is a further object of the present invention to provide awall-mounted bumper for preventing wall damage.

[0010] It is another object of the present invention to provide a wallprotector having a bumper for preventing injury to persons.

[0011] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide abumper for preventing injury to persons

[0012] It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide awall protector having a bumper for preventing dirt and grime to betransferred from the wall onto persons.

[0013] It is still another object of the present invention to provide awall protector having a bumper which can be attached to the wall usingan adhesive material that adheres strongly to the wall when the wallprotector is mounted to the wall and yet permits easy removal of thewall protector from the wall.

[0014] It is still a further object of the present invention to providea bumper which can be attached to the wall using an adhesive materialthat adheres strongly to the wall when the bumper is mounted to the walland yet permits easy removal of the bumper from the wall.

[0015] It is another object of the present invention to provide a wallprotector having a bumper which is economical to manufacture.

[0016] It is still another object of the present invention to provide abumper which is economical to manufacture.

[0017] Numerous other advantages and features of the present inventionwill become readily apparent from the following detailed description ofthe invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall mountable air impermeablebumper.

[0019]FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the other side of the wallmountable air impermeable bumper.

[0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wall mountable air impermeablerectangular bumper having chambers.

[0021]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wall mountable rectangularbumper having a soft material filling.

[0022]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a wall protector having an airimpermeable bumper.

[0023]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a wall protector having arectangular bumper filled with a soft material filling.

[0024]FIG. 7 is a perspective view from the other side of the wallprotector having the air impermeable bumper of FIG. 5.

[0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of yet another wall protector havingan air impermeable bumper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in manydifferent forms, there are shown in the drawings and will be describedherein in detail specific embodiments thereof, with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit theinvention to the specific embodiments illustrated.

[0027] The present invention provides a bumper which can be mounted to awall to protect the wall from people or objects that could come incontact with, and potentially cause damage to the wall. When mounted,the bumper can also prevent injury to people who inadvertently contactthe wall with a force, for example, a force caused by a swinging cardoor. The present invention also provides a wall protector having abumper. The wall protector having the bumper can be mounted to a wall toprotect the wall from people or objects that could come in contact with,and potentially cause damage to the wall. When mounted to the wall, thewall protector having the bumper can also prevent injury to people whoinadvertently contact the wall with a force. Further, the wall protectorhaving the bumper can prevent dirt and grim from being transferred ontothe clothing of persons who come in contact with the wall.

[0028]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air impermeable bumper 100 thatcan be mounted on a wall. The air impermeable bumper 100 includes afront surface 104, that when sealed along the edges with a rear surface106, forms the rectangular-shaped air impermeable bumper 100 having apocket. When filled with a pressurized gas, the pocket can absorbkinetic energy when impacted upon by an outside body such as a person oran object (e.g., a car door). Both the front surface 104 and the rearsurface 106 of the air impermeable bumper 100 are made from asubstantially air impermeable material sheet. The material sheets may beconstructed of one of any number of non-abrasive flexible materials suchas a lightweight rubberized canvas, a heavy duty plastic, etc.,lightweight and capable of sustaining an air pressure.

[0029] As illustrated, the rear surface 106 of the air impermeablebumper 100 is adapted to be affixed to a substantially flat wall.Therefore, when sealed along its edges with the back surface 106, thefront surface 104 provides a top portion, a front portion, and a bottomportion of the air impermeable bumper 100, while the rear surface 106provides a flat back portion of the bumper. In addition, although notillustrated in FIG. 1, a strut or other rigid member(s) coupled to aninterior wall of the pocket of the air impermeable bumper 100 may beincluded to maintain flatness of the back portion to ensure effectivemounting to the wall.

[0030] A valve 102, disposed in the top, front or bottom portion of theair impermeable bumper 100, allows inflation and deflation of thepocket. The valve 102 may be one of any number of suitable valvesadapted to allow a pressured gas (e.g., pressurized air) to enter thepocket when in an opened position and to allow the pressurized gas toremain in the pocket when in a closed position. For example, the valve102 may of the collapsible valve type used in inflatable toys. Such acollapsible valve allows a person to open it and inflate the pocket byreceiving air, blown directly from the person's lungs, into the pocketvia the collapsible valve. When the pocket is inflated to an appropriatesize, the collapsible valve is manually closed to prevent the air fromescaping the pocket. The valve 102 may also be of the type used in abasketballs, footballs, etc., or it may of the type used in anorthopedic support pillow (e.g., the valve when open, automaticallydraws air into the pocket). As will be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art, the air impermeable bumper 100 may also be configuredin an oval shape, a triangular shape, etc.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 2, the air impermeable bumper 100 also includesa mounting means 108 positioned along the back portion 106 to allow thebumper to be mounted or affixed to the wall. Preferably, the mountingmeans 108 is positioned along a top edge of the back portion 106;however, it may also be positioned at other locations on the backportion 106.

[0032] The mounting means 108 may be one of any number of suitablemounting materials adapted to allow wall mounting of the bumper 100.Preferably, the mounting means 108 is selected to ensure strongadherence of the air impermeable bumper 100 to the wall under normalmounting conditions, yet permit removal of the air impermeable bumper100 from the wall with hand peel forces. For example, the mounting means108 may be a pressure sensitive adhesive tape or a stretch releasingadhesive tape available from 3M Innovative Properties Company (St. Paul,Minn.). The mounting means 108 may also be a strip-like fastenercomprised of a number of closely spaced hook-like projections thatreleasably engage loops of a companion fastener (e.g., Velcro®), etc. Inthat case, the loop portion of the strip-like fastener may be mounteddirectly on the wall using known methods, while the hook-likeprojections portion may be affixed to the back portion 106 of the airimpermeable bumper 100.

[0033]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of chambered air impermeablerectangular bumper 200 that may be mounted on a wall. Like theconstruction and operation of the air impermeable bumper of FIGS. 1 and2, the chambered air impermeable rectangular bumper 200 is formed fromtwo substantially air impermeable rectangular material sheets that, whensealed along their edges, create a pocket. Similarly, like theconstruction and operation of the air impermeable bumper of FIGS. 1 and2, the chambered air impermeable rectangular bumper 200 utilizes amounting means to ensure strong adherence of the chambered airimpermeable bumper 200 to the wall under normal mounting conditions, yetpermit removal from the wall with hand peel forces. Unlike theconstruction of the rectangular bumper of FIGS. 1 and 2, however, thefront and back surfaces forming the chambered air impermeablerectangular bumper 200 are joined together at a number of locations tocreate a number of impermeable inflatable chambers 204. When filled witha pressurized gas, each of the chambers of the pocket can absorb kineticenergy when impacted upon by an outside body such as a person or anobject. Preferably, a valve 202 is disposed in each of the chambers 204to allow inflation and deflation of the chambers. As will be appreciatedby those of ordinary skill in the art, the number of chambers and thenumber of valves may vary, depending on the desired configuration of thechambered air permeable rectangular bumper 200.

[0034]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wall mountable rectangularbumper 300 having a soft material filling. Like the construction andoperation of the air impermeable bumper of FIGS. 1 and 2, the wallmountable rectangular bumper 300 is formed from two rectangular materialsheets that, when joined along their edges, create a pocket Similarly,like the construction and operation of the air impermeable bumper ofFIGS. 1 and 2, the wall mountable rectangular bumper 300 utilizes amounting means to ensure strong adherence of the wall mountablerectangular bumper 300 to the wall under normal mounting conditions, yetpermit removal from the wall with hand peel forces. Unlike theconstruction of the rectangular bumper of FIGS. 1 and 2, however, thetwo rectangular material sheets are not required to be substantially airimpermeable because the pocket of wall mountable rectangular bumper 300contains a soft material filling rather than pressurized gas. Inaddition, a valve is not required to be disposed in the pocket of thewall mountable rectangular bumper 300. The soft material used to fillthe pocket of wall mountable rectangular bumper 300 may be any suitablematerial, for example, a soft foam material, adapted to absorb kineticenergy when impacted upon by an outside body such as a person or anobject.

[0035]FIG. 5 is perspective view of a wall protector 400 having an airimpermeable bumper 402. The wall protector 400 includes a front surfacejoined to a back surface to form a pocket therebetween. The pocket isconstructed, such that when the pocket is full of a pressurized gas thepocket forms the air impermeable bumper 402. Alternatively, the wallprotector 400 may include only the front surface having the airimpermeable bumper 402 formed thereon. Like the construction of the airimpermeable bumper 100 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bumper 402 isformed from substantially air impermeable material sheets. The materialsheets may be one of any number of non-abrasive flexible materials suchas a lightweight rubberized canvas, a heavy duty plastic, etc.,lightweight and capable of sustaining an air pressure. A valve 404disposed in the pocket of the wall protector 400, as described inconnection with FIG. 1 allows the air impermeable bumper 402 to beinflated and deflated.

[0036] Although illustrated as a rectangular bumper, the air impermeablebumper 402 may be configured as a chambered air impermeable rectangularbumper as described in FIG. 3. The air impermeable bumper 402 may alsobe configured in an oval shape, a triangular shape, or a series ofshapes, etc. As will be appreciated by those or ordinary skill in theart, the wall protector 400 may also include multiple air impermeablebumpers positioned above and/or below the air impermeable bumper 402.

[0037] The wall protector 400 also includes an upper portion material406 extending upwardly from the air impermeable bumper 402, and a lowerportion material 408 extending downwardly from the air impermeablebumper 402. In the illustrated example, the widths of both the upper andlower portions 406, 408 are constructed to be the same as the length ofthe bumper. Thus, the upper portion material 406 is configured to covera top portion of the wall above the air impermeable bumper 402, and thelower portion material 408 is configured to cover a lower portion of thewall below the air impermeable bumper 402. In this way, the wallprotector 400 provides a barrier between persons or objects and thewall, thereby preventing dirt and grim from being transferred onto theclothing of persons who come in contact with the wall.

[0038] For example, the wall protector 400 may include a rectangular airimpermeable bumper 402 that is seven feet long, one foot high, and twoinches deep. The upper portion material may extend upward three feetabove the air impermeable bumper 402 (yielding 21 ft²) and the lowerportion material 408 may extend one foot below the air impermeablebumper 402 (yielding 7 ft²), thereby yielding a wall protector 400covering 35 ft² of wall surface.

[0039] The wall protector 400 is adapted to be affixed to asubstantially flat wall. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the wallprotector 400 also includes the mounting means 108 positioned along theback of the wall protector 400 to allow the wall protector 400 to bemounted or affixed to the wall. Preferably, the mounting means 108 ispositioned along a top edge of the back of the wall protector 400;however, it may also be positioned at other locations or at multiplelocations on the back of the wall protector 400. The mounting means 108may be one of any number of suitable mounting materials as described inconnection with FIG. 2.

[0040]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a wall protector 500 having abumper 502 filled with a soft material filling. Like the constructionand operation of the wall protector 400 of FIG. 5, the wall protector500 includes a bumper having a pocket. Similarly, like the constructionand operation of the wall protector 400 of FIG. 5, the wall protector500 utilizes a mounting means to ensure strong adherence of the wallprotector 500 to the wall under normal mounting conditions, yet permitsremoval of the wall protector from the wall with hand peel forces.Unlike the construction of the wall protector 400 of FIG. 5, however,the material sheets are not required to be substantially air impermeablebecause the pocket of the bumper 502 contains a soft material filling asdescribed in connection with FIG. 4, rather than pressurized gas. Inaddition, a valve is not required to be disposed in the pocket of thewall protector 500.

[0041]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of yet another wall protector 600having an air impermeable bumper 602 with a valve 604. The wallprotector 600 is constructed substantially similar to the wall protector400 of FIG. 5 except that the mounting means of the wall protector 600includes a series of grommets placed along a top edge of the wallprotector 600. The series of grommets are adapted to receive an equalnumber of bolts protruding from the wall, thereby allowing the wallprotector to be hung in the desired location.

[0042] As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, thebumpers and wall protectors described above may be mounted in manylocations (1) to protect walls from objects and persons, (2) to protectpersons from being injured, and (3) to protect persons clothing frombeing soiled.

[0043] From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variationsand modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit andscope of the novel concept of the invention. It is to be understood thatno limitation with respect to the specific methods and apparatusillustrated herein is intended or should be inferred It is, of course,intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fullwithin the scope of the claims.

It is claimed:
 1. A wall bumper comprising: a front surface and a rearsurface sealed together along edges thereof; the front surface having apocket for the reception of a pressurized gas, such that when the pocketis full of a pressurized gas the pocket forms a bumper with the tendencyto absorb kinetic energy when impacted upon by an outside body; and amounting means positioned along one end of the bumper for attaching thebumper to a wall.
 2. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein the pocketfurther comprises: two substantially air impermeable rectangularmaterial sheets sealed along their peripheries to form an airimpermeable rectangular cushion; and a valve means disposed in the airimpermeable rectangular cushion to permit air to exit and entertherefrom.
 3. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein the pocket furthercomprises: two substantially air impermeable rectangular material sheetsjoined together to create a plurality of air impermeable inflatablechambers; and a valve means disposed in each of the plurality of airimpermeable inflatable chambers to permit air to exit and entertherefrom.
 4. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein the pocket furthercomprises: two substantially air impermeable oval material sheets sealedalong their peripheries to form an air impermeable oval cushion; and avalve means disposed in the air impermeable oval cushion to permit airto exit and enter therefrom.
 5. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein thepocket further comprises: two substantially air impermeable triangularmaterial sheets sealed along their peripheries to form an airimpermeable triangular cushion; and a valve means disposed in the airimpermeable triangular cushion to permit air to exit and entertherefrom.
 6. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein the mounting meanscomprises a pressure sensitive adhesive tape, the pressure sensitiveadhesive tape configured to adhere strongly to the wall under normalmounting conditions, yet permit removal from the wall with hand peelforces.
 7. The wall bumper of claim 1, wherein the wall bumper is formedfrom a non-abrasive flexible material.
 8. A wall bumper comprising: afront surface and a rear surface sealed together along edges thereof,the front surface having a pocket for the reception of a soft foammaterial, such that when the pocket is full of the soft foam materialthe pocket forms a bumper with the tendency to absorb kinetic energywhen impacted upon by an outside body; and a first mounting meanspositioned along one end of the bumper for attaching the bumper to awall.
 9. The wall bumper of claim 8, wherein the mounting meanscomprises a pressure sensitive adhesive tape, the pressure sensitiveadhesive tape configured to adhere strongly to the wall under normalmounting conditions, yet permit removal from the wall with hand peelforces.
 10. The wall bumper of claim 8, wherein the wall bumper isformed from a non-abrasive flexible material.
 11. A wall protectorcomprising: a front surface and a rear surface sealed together alongedges thereof; the front surface having a pocket for the reception of apressurized gas, such that when the pocket is full of a pressurized gasthe pocket forms a bumper with the tendency to absorb kinetic energywhen impacted upon by an outside body; an upper portion materialextending upwardly from the bumper; a lower portion material extendingdownwardly from the bumper; and a mounting means positioned along a topedge of the upper portion material for attaching the wall protector to awall, wherein the upper portion material is configured to cover a firstportion of the wall above the bumper, and wherein the lower portionmaterial is configured to cover a second portion of the wall below thebumper.
 12. The wall protector of claim 11, wherein the pocket furthercomprises: two substantially air impermeable rectangular material sheetssealed along their peripheries to form an air impermeable rectangularcushion; and a valve means disposed in the air impermeable rectangularcushion to permit air to exit and enter therefrom.
 13. The wallprotector of claim 11, wherein the pocket further comprises: twosubstantially air impermeable rectangular material sheets joinedtogether to create a plurality of air impermeable inflatable chambers;and a valve means disposed in each of the plurality of air impermeableinflatable chambers to permit air to exit and enter therefrom.
 14. Thewall protector of claim 11, wherein the pocket further comprises: twosubstantially air impermeable oval material sheets sealed along theirperipheries to form an air impermeable oval cushion; and a valve meansdisposed in the air impermeable oval cushion to permit air to exit andenter therefrom.
 15. The wall protector of claim 11, wherein the pocketfurther comprises: two substantially air impermeable triangular materialsheets sealed along their peripheries to form an air impermeabletriangular cushion; and a valve means disposed in the air impermeabletriangular cushion to permit air to exit and enter therefrom.
 16. Thewall protector of claim 11, wherein the mounting means comprises apressure sensitive adhesive tape, the pressure sensitive adhesive tapeconfigured to adhere strongly to the wall under normal mountingconditions, yet permit removal from the wall with hand peel forces. 17.The wall protector of claim 11, wherein the mounting means comprises aplurality of grommets adapted to receive a plurality of bolts protrudingfrom the wall.
 18. The wall protector of claim 11, wherein the wallbumper is formed from a non-abrasive flexible material.